But it would take a new college graduate with a very particular character to think about starting a career in management at a company battling with Japan’s worst-ever nuclear accident, soaring compensation costs and a plummeting share price.

But while the president of the much-troubled utility admits to doubts about whether students will be interested in joining the company, he says he’s determined to continue attracting new managerial talent to the company, despite the multitude of hurdles it faces.

“We decided to forgo next year’s (round of annual) recruitment since we are facing an unprecedented crisis. But to be honest, we want to keep hiring even if the number is small,” Tepco President Toshio Nishizawa said in an interview Thursday. The utility had planned to hire 1,100 new employees in spring 2012 when college graduates come onto the job market. “It is important to continue hiring personnel and inject new blood into the organization,” he said.

The 60-year-old chief of Tepco, appearing slightly weary, conceded he has concerns about recruitment. “With many risks still ahead, we are far from feeling any relief,” Mr. Nishizawa said.

In point of fact, leaving the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis aside, utility companies have never really been popular destinations for new graduates in the face of competition from the likes of big global blue chips like Panasonic Corp., All Nippon Airways Co., and Shiseido Co.

But when asked what message he might send to try to encourage future applicants to consider Tepco, Mr. Nishizawa said there is light at the end of the tunnel.

He emphasized that the company will continue making investments to enhance the value of its core business in supplying electricity. “Tepco will cease to exist if we lose the mentality of taking on risks and challenges,” Mr. Nishizawa said. “We would not be a private company if we simply stay afloat by neglecting growth and development.”

Still, prospects for growth at the company seem a very long way off indeed. Any profits generated in the near term will effectively go toward covering compensation payments to those affected by the nuclear accident. And while Tepco is thought likely to have to raise prices to help finance compensation, the public – and the government – seem unlikely to accept higher electricity bills without mammoth restructuring on its part.

About Japan Real Time

Japan Real Time is a newsy, concise guide to what works, what doesn’t and why in the one-time poster child for Asian development, as it struggles to keep pace with faster-growing neighbors while competing with Europe for Michelin-rated restaurants. Drawing on the expertise of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, the site provides an inside track on business, politics and lifestyle in Japan as it comes to terms with being overtaken by China as the world’s second-biggest economy. You can contact the editors at japanrealtime@wsj.com